Surkhet, Nov 4: The Ministry of Water Resources and Energy Development of Karnali Province has managed to finalize contracts for only 118 out of 1,407 projects allocated in the current fiscal year — less than seven percent progress even as the contract deadline approaches.
According to Chief Divisional Engineer Padam Devkota, the ministry’s overall progress has been “very weak,” despite clear directives from Chief Minister Yam Lal Kandel to expedite work.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning had instructed all provincial ministries to ensure that contracts for all budgeted projects be completed by mid-November (Kartik end). The directive also warned that uncontracted projects within that timeframe could have their budgets frozen.
Officials say the directive has effectively gone unimplemented, raising fears of yet another year of “Asare development” — a local term referring to last-minute fiscal-year-end spending with poor quality outcomes.
Furthermore, clause 18 of the guideline clearly states that projects worth more than NPR 3 million must be executed through an open bidding process, not through consumer committees. However, the ministry has failed to comply, with less than 10 percent of the work completed by mid-Kartik.
Chief Divisional Engineer Devkota cited the Gen Z movement and the Dashain-Tihar festivals as major reasons for the delay. “Earlier, we were making progress,” he said. “But after the federal government instructed that all projects above NPR 1 million go through bidding, we were hit hard. We don’t have many small projects below NPR 1.5 million. Even drinking water and irrigation projects are now required to go through tenders, creating delays and uncertainty. We plan to discuss this issue with the Chief Minister.”
The provincial directive calls for bidding only for projects above Rs 3 million, but the federal directive requiring tenders for all projects above Rs 1 million has caused confusion among staff, leading to administrative bottlenecks and delays.
District-wise progress report
- Surkhet: 191 projects, contracts signed for only 19
- Dailekh: 178 projects, 27 contracted
- Jumla: 101 projects, 9 contracted
- Kalikot: 164 projects, 21 contracted
- Salyan: 104 projects, 30 contracted
- Rukum West: 140 projects, 25 contracted
- Jajarkot: 112 projects, 4 contracted
- Humla: 215 projects, 14 contracted
- Dolpa: 107 projects, 27 contracted
- Mugu: 95 projects, 12 contracted
The ministry’s overall financial progress stands at only 2.23 percent, according to CDE Devkota.
Given the current pace, the province is unlikely to achieve full contract completion by the Kartik-end target. Minister Vijaya Budha criticized district-level chiefs for the delay, accusing them of “failing to perform.” She further stated that poor coordination between provincial ministries and federal directives has created confusion among employees.
“The staff are following federal rules, not provincial policy,” she said, adding that the lack of accountability at the district level is hindering project execution. #nepal #karnali
